Morning News Roundup (14 July)

• Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has warned the peace process with Pakistan could be harmed by the Mumbai train bombings and alleged the attackers had support "from across the border".
  
  "The terrorists (responsible for the blasts) were supported by elements across the border without which they cannot hit with such an effect," Singh said on Friday. "I explained to the government of Pakistan ... that if such acts of terrorism are not controlled, it is exceedingly difficult for any government to carry forward what may be called the normalisation of relations and the peace process," he said. Pakistan immediately denied Singh's claims. [AFP]
  
  
• The death toll in Lebanon tops 50 as Israeli airstrikes continue. Israel has placed an air, sea, and land blockade on the country and targeted power plants, the Beirut-Damascus highway, phone antennas, and fuel tanks. The BBC has photos of the destruction. Hezbollah responds by firing more than 100 rockets and shells into Israel. Everyone is getting a little nervous about Iran's role in this crisis (and Ahmadinejad responds with bluster), but others wonder why more blame isn't being heaped on Syria. [Foreign Policy's Passport]
  
  
• Dan Froomkin over at his WaPo White House Briefing blog notes that President Bush was a bit more animated in discussing his dinner than tackling the escalating war between Israel and Hezbollah (with Lebanon in the middle)
  

  Other than definitively supporting Israel's right to defend itself, Bush was more timid and wishful than assertive. He spoke in unusually deferential terms about collaborating with other world leaders and pretty much ruled out military action against Iran. His comments about the current situation in Israel suggested a highly unrealistic notion of how well things were going there up until now, and a naiveté about the effect Israel's actions may have on Lebanon's embryonic democratic government.
  
  Stopping off in Germany on his way to the G-8 summit in Russia, Bush reserved his greatest enthusiasm for tonight's pig roast -- technically, a wild-boar barbecue -- bringing it up three times. "I'm looking forward to that pig tonight," he gushed.

  
  
• Oil surged to record highs above $78 a barrel on Friday as intensifying violence in the Middle East raised concerns of possible supply disruptions. [ThinkProgress' ThinkFast]
  
  
• Despite growing demand for renewable energy, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced that U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from energy increased in 2005. According to the agency’s report, ‘U.S. Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Energy Sources: 2005 Flash Estimate’ (view in PDF), energy related carbon dioxide emissions increased from 5,903 million metric tons in 2004 to 5,909 million metric tons in 2005. The report suggests that this 0.1% increase is a result of a growing reliance on coal fired power plants. Coal related emissions increased 1.4%, while emissions from both petroleum and natural gas derived energy decreased since 2004. [...] Although progress has been made in increasing the supply of renewable energy, this report makes it clear that we need to address energy consumption in an effort to fight climate change. [Treehugger]
  
  
• Scientists waited a long time to declare that global warming was real. And they waited even longer to declare that it resulted from human activities. And they are still waiting to announce what is becoming increasingly obvious: It isn't going to take nearly as long as had been expected for profound changes to take place.
  
  How much will it change? How will that affect us? And how soon?
  
  Those are the tough questions, and some of the answers will remain elusive for years to come. After all, predicting climate, even day to day, is foggy at best. Given the variables, it may be the most difficult science of all. But many experts confide privately what they aren't yet ready to announce publicly: Change is accelerating at a dramatic rate. [ABC]
  
  
• Designer Marc Jacobs has created t-shirts, tote bags, and trucker hats devoted to the fashionable Al Gore, including the red t-shirt below, imploring Al to save us all. [Nation]
  
  
  
  
• Before the 390 to 33 vote to extend the Voting Rights Act for a quarter-century, the House defeated four amendments that would have diluted two expiring provisions and possibly derailed final passage before the November congressional elections. With the House hurdle now cleared, Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said he hoped to bring the extension to the Senate floor before the August recess.
  
  The Voting Rights Act is a cornerstone of the civil rights era and was adopted in 1965 to stop the systematic disenfranchisement of black voters, particularly in the South, through barriers such as poll taxes and literacy tests. Much of the legislation, including a section that bans racial discrimination at the ballot box, is permanent law. [WaPo]
  
  
• “Less than two months after voting overwhelmingly to build 370 miles of new fencing along the border with Mexico, the Senate yesterday voted against providing funds to build it.” [ThinkProgress' ThinkFast]